A 23-year-old Fredericksburg man was held without bond after traveling over double the speed limit in his Charger.
On December 19th at approximately 10:13 p.m. Deputy A.J. Charoenthep was traveling Southbound on Warrenton Road near Olde Forge Drive when he observed a Charger traveling faster than the traffic around it. As Deputy Charoenthep continued to observe the vehicle, he watched as it passed another vehicle using a dedicated turn lane and proceeded to accelerate. By the time Deputy Charoenthep turned on his emergency equipment, the Charger was traveling 80 MPH in a 45 MPH zone and continued to speed up.
As Deputy Charoenthep provided constant updates on the pursuit to nearby deputies, the Charger sped up to 100 MPH near Solomon Drive, continuing past Heartfields Lane, and Richmond Highway onto Butler Road. Sergeant J.D. Hurt was in the area of Cool Springs Road when he turned onto Butler Road and began to head towards the pursuit. As the Charger took the blind curve on Butler Road near the YMCA, he crossed the double yellow line and was traveling directly towards Sergeant Hurt. If not for Deputy Charoenthep’s constant updates providing Sergeant Hurt enough time to swerve out of the way, the Charger would have hit him head on.
With additional deputies now involved in the pursuit, the Charger finally slowed to a stop at the intersection of Butler Road and Castle Rock. The driver, Jhonattan Varela Rangel, was detained without further incident. When asked why he was driving in such a reckless manner, Rangel advised he wanted to get home fast. Due to his actions, he would not be getting home any faster.
Rangel was charged with felony eluding, reckless passing on a curve, reckless driving, driving without a driver’s license, failure to obey traffic lights, passing on the double yellow line, and improper pass on the left. He was held without bond at Rappahannock Regional Jail.
